The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. -- Authorities trying to communicate with the Washington-area sniper issued a second cryptic statement Monday, saying they have received a message and were preparing a response.

In the second day of dramatic developments, police in the Richmond suburbs surrounded a gray and white van parked next to an outdoor phone. They later towed it away. At least one man was taken into custody, a witness said.

Keith Underwood, service manager at Royal Oldsmobile next to the Exxon station, said a team of police officers converged on the van and pulled the driver out around 8:30 a.m.

"He was taken out under control," he said. "I didn't see any resistance at all."

In his brief statement issued in Maryland, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose didn't specify whether the message was a new communication or the same one they discovered near the scene of the latest shooting Saturday night.

"The message that needs to be delivered is that we are going to respond to a message that we have received," Moose said. "We are preparing our response at this time."

Moose left the podium immediately after the statement, and said beforehand he would not take any questions.

Police found a note in the woods near the Ponderosa restaurant in Ashland, Va., a few miles north of Richmond, after a man was shot and critically wounded Saturday night.

Police in Hanover County, Va., where Saturday's shooting took place, told reporters that the van had been stopped along Broad St. a major commercial street.

"It was specific enough to be a suspect vehicle in all the cases," said Lt. Doug Goodman of the Hanover County Sheriff's Department. A police officer at the scene said the van was a Plymouth Voyager with temporary Virginia tags. He did not confirm broadcast reports that anyone had been taken in for questioning.

In a brief but dramatic news conference late Sunday, police had urged whoever left the note at the scene of Saturday

tors for testing.

The victim, whose name was not released, remained in critical condition early Monday after six hours of surgery. Doctors were cautiously optimistic about his recovery but said he would need more surgery.

In other developments:

--School officials in the Ashland and Richmond areas of Virginia decided to close Monday, keeping more than 200,000 public students out of class "based on the volume of parent and community concern."

-- France has alerted Interpol about a French army deserter who is known as a marksman and is missing in North America. A Defense Ministry spokesman said there was speculation of a link to the sniper investigation.

-- Matthew M. Dowdy, who was accused of lying to police by describing a cream-colored van with a burned-out taillight at the scene of last week's shooting in Falls Church, was denied bail during a hearing Monday.

The nature of the message that investigators say was left at the Ashland shooting scene was unclear. But police had a message of his own to the sender.

"To the person who left us a message at the Ponderosa last night. You gave us a telephone number. We do want to talk to you. Call us at the number you provided. Thank you," Moose said.

Moose refused to elaborate or explain. But Officer Joyce Utter, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County police, later said Moose's statement "should make complete sense" to the person who left the message.

"That is the only person Chief Moose wants to talk to," she said.

The message contained significant text and was found in woods behind the restaurant, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday, quoting unidentified law enforcement sources. The report also said police have found more than one tarot card during the investigation.

A tarot death card was found Oct. 7 outside a Bowie middle school where the sniper wounded a 13-year-old boy, a law enforcement source has said. It had the words "Dear Policeman, I am God" written on it.

If the latest attack is linked confirmed through ballistics tests, it would break the longest lull between shootings, about five days, and be the farthest point from Washington yet.

Previously, the longest distance from Washington that the sniper had struck was Spotsylvania County, about 50 miles south of Washington. Ashland is about 85 miles south of Washington.

The most recent confirmed sniper attack was last Monday night's slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Home Depot store in Falls Church.

Police said the latest victim and his wife were traveling and stopped in Ashland for gas and food. His wife told authorities the shot sounded like a car backfiring and said her husband took about three steps before collapsing.

Through the hospital, the wife released a statement saying the caring and prayers she and her husband have received "have been a bright ray of hope and comfort."

"Please pray also for the attacker and that no one else is hurt," she added.

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On the Net:

Montgomery County police: http://www.co.mo.md.us

FBI: http://www.fbi.gov